Brazos Transit District's $25million Trolley

4,206 Views | 38 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by woodiewood1
duffelpud
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I heard on the radio this morning that Brazos Transit District planned to build a trolley line between Northgate and Downtown Bryan at a price of around twenty-five million dollars, but I can't find the news story online. Anyone have a link or additional information?
"What's this button do?"
TyHolden
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whoop1995
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Money to burn!
TyHolden
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Midtown Lake in 5-10 years...

oldag00
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I think it's a $25million parking structure at Mid-town park to serve the Legends event center and other park amenities.

I think the trolley is an add on. They think people will park there and ride a trolley around BCS to various destinations/attractions.

Call me skeptical.
TyHolden
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oldag00 said:

I think it's a $25million parking structure at Mid-town park to serve the Legends event center and other park amenities.

I think the trolley is an add on. They think people will park there and ride a trolley around BCS to various destinations/attractions.

Call me skeptical.
like Alkatraz
taxpreparer
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TyHolden said:




My first thought when I heard this on WTAW on Thursday.
***It's your money, not theIRS! (At least for a little while longer.)
crbongos
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I think that is an outstanding about the trolley. Glad it's not $25M tho! Linking Northgate to Downtown and vice Versa, will help expand the fun in BCS!!!
CRBongo
woodiewood1
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The parking garage will not only add parking but will have retail businesses on the ground floor. Another case of cities picking retail winners and losers. P
trouble
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They've been talking about some kind of trolley from Northgate to downtown since before I first moved here in fall '93. I'll believe it when I see it running down the street.
Rapier108
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From 1910 to 1923, there was a trolly which ran from Bryan (now what we call downtown Bryan) and campus.

This doesn't mean we need one again, but its an idea that just won't die. I remember hearing proposals about it since I was a kid.
"If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves." - Sir Winston Churchill
woodiewood1
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Rapier108 said:

From 1910 to 1923, there was a trolly which ran from Bryan (now what we call downtown Bryan) and campus.

This doesn't mean we need one again, but its an idea that just won't die. I remember hearing proposals about it since I was a kid.
There was also a big push for one in the 1970s also, Maybe we should get the high speed rail guys to do it so it will never be completed in our lifetimes?
Rexter
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They should forget the trolley and build a monorail or bullet train!
Bunk Moreland
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Sometimes I'll be at NG on a Friday night or saturday afternoon with friends and we'll want to switch it up to Carney's or downtown Bryan. Would be nice for those times but I can't imagine there's a major need or desire.
AggiePhil
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Needs to be a subway.
bobinator
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Futurama style pneumatic tube IMO
PS3D
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They're not building a train line for $25 million. If you believe that I've got a bridge to sell you.
Smeghead4761
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Rapier108 said:

From 1910 to 1923, there was a trolly which ran from Bryan (now what we call downtown Bryan) and campus.

This doesn't mean we need one again, but its an idea that just won't die. I remember hearing proposals about it since I was a kid.
For whatever reason, a fetish for various forms of passenger rail transport seems to be quite common among urban planners

This article is from 2014 (and national, not local))

The Desire Named Streetcar

I think a lot of it is that said planners want the proles to take the train, so the planners have more places to park and less traffic to deal with.
doubledog
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Rapier108 said:

From 1910 to 1923, there was a trolly which ran from Bryan (now what we call downtown Bryan) and campus.

This doesn't mean we need one again, but its an idea that just won't die. I remember hearing proposals about it since I was a kid.
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/bryan-and-college-interurban-railway
turfman80
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I wouldn't use it, but if developers and retail merchants would foot 100% of the bill, go for it! Otherwise, a big NO!
Yeah, well, sometimes nothing is a real cool hand
Captn_Ag05
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I think there will need to be a quite a bit more redevelopment between downtown and Northgate before this. Midtown is a good start, but there is a long way to go IMO.
profromdover
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Well, sir, there's nothing on earth like a genuine, bona fide, electrified, six-car monorail!
Rexter
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After thinkin and sleepin on it, they should put a station in Kurten and bus everyone to midtown…
Captn_Ag05
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Here is a link to the story on WTAW and includes the radio interview about the garage and trolley.

https://wtaw.com/more-information-about-the-brazos-transit-districts-federal-grant-application-for-a-multi-use-parking-garage-at-midtown-park/
PS3D
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I'm pretty sure I read there was an Interurban-themed bus in the 1990s that did the same thing they're doing now.
Rexter
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PS3D said:

I'm pretty sure I read there was an Interurban-themed bus in the 1990s that did the same thing they're doing now.


It was the inter-urban trolley.
It used these as trolley cars:
Hornbeck
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AggiePhil said:

Needs to be a subway.


As long as CS can run their sewer line along with it.
woodiewood1
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Captn_Ag05 said:

I think there will need to be a quite a bit more redevelopment between downtown and Northgate before this. Midtown is a good start, but there is a long way to go IMO.
For the next decade or so there will be little need for a trolley to go from downtown Bryan to Northgate. It's somewhat of a different age and interest demographics that visit both locations. Just add another bus or two an hour and that would be a lot less expensive than an investment and maintenance of a trolley system.

It is easy for people to promote programs when you are using OPM.

BaitShack
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Land of make believe.

Captn_Ag05
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What they are talking about is really just a bus that looks like a trolley, right? They aren't putting down trolley tracks. If it's just running a bus (that has a trolley finish out) to run between downtown, midtown, and Northgate, I guess it is worth a try and can see if there is a demand based on ridership. I doubt there will be.
phillytex24
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They need to put a light-rail that goes from Rock Prairie/Wellborn all the way down to Downtown Bryan. They can build it next to the existing tracks and recreate the original College Station train stop across from campus & Kyle Field. It would be great for game day traffic.
doubledog
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duffelpud said:

I heard on the radio this morning that Brazos Transit District planned to build a trolley line between Northgate and Downtown Bryan at a price of around twenty-five million dollars, but I can't find the news story online. Anyone have a link or additional information?
This is a 25M game day shuttle, that benefits one city. No thank you. Now back to the sewer line.
GSS
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The number of empty (other than the driver) BTD buses is incredible, any time of the day, all over B-CS. But the bureaucracy, and zero need for tax $$ accountability, will keep the boondoggle in operation, including the expansion now mentioned.
You can thank the "Covid relief $$$" for the latest dysfunctional plan....
Tailgate88
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Quote:

A late January meeting between Brazos Transit District (BTD) leaders and Bryan's mayor led to the district's application for a federal grant to fund a nearly $25 million dollar parking garage in Midtown Park.

BTD vice president Jo Marlow tells WTAW News there are multiple components to the proposed project at South College and Rountree.

In addition to parking an estimated 1,000 vehicles, the facility would host a trolley service to take passengers between downtown Bryan and College Station's Northgate district. That would be a throwback to the former Interurban trolley between Bryan and the Texas A&M campus that ended in 1923.

Marlow says the facility would provide charging stations, have access to bicycles and electric scooters, and have a retail component that was also sought by the city.

The grant application followed BTD receiving two acres of land the city council controlled Bryan commerce and development board. There is no additional local contribution in the grant application, which was not required to be considered for this specific federal program.
George Costanza
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I wonder what the maintenance and operation budget would be on the facility and who will pay for that?
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